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Survey : Most popular Tamil Videos!!!

Topic started by Krishnan (@ ce-3.roc.ny.frontiernet.net) on Sat Dec 26 12:52:59 EST 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Vanakkam,
Assume you're stranded on Bahamas with only
a VCR & TV for company. What are the FIVE most favorite videos you'd prefer to watch ?

To start this list off, I'll list my own top-10 below :

1. Pallavi Anu Pallavi ( Mani Rathnam , Anil Kapoor, Lakshmi, Vikram. (Kannada) )
Probably the most mature effort by Mani, EVER.
A lot of footage for Mouna Ragam was plagiarised from this one.
Many "Mani Rathnam trademarks" evolved with this earliest venture.
Deals with adultery , love & misunderstanding on a level unseen hitherto by an Indian audience. Remember, this classic was released sometime in the late 70s-early 80s.

Anil Kapoor & Lakshmi give a most remarkable & composed performance.

The last time I watched this movie, a re-run in Bangalore, the most popular song "Nagoo Yendidhay", an awesome Ilayaraaja composition with great lyrics penned by Rajan Nagendra ( he got a State award for that ) got a STANDING OVATION!
I mean, I've never seen anything like that! People unanimously stood up at the end of the song AND CLAPPED THEIR HEARTS OUT!!! I was so tearful as were a lot of other viewers.

2. Mouna Ragam ( Mani Rathnam, Mohan, Revathi, Karthik ) - Ok so Mani used some major footage from PAP in here, but still this movie has its own charm & a ton of classic IR tunes.
Some very classy camerawork & neat frontal shots of Delhi's remarkable Red Fort & Parliament house, by PC Sriram , during "Mandram Vandha Thendralukku" , shamelessly repeated in Uyire :-(

3. Indira ( Suhasini Manirathnam, Anu Hassan, Arvind Swamy ) : Despite unfounded allegations that her hubby helped her out, Suhasini excels in this one as a director. Very nice effort, some very inspiring tunes.
"Thoda Thoda Malarthadenna" ( ARR ) - very neat picturization, very memorable!

4. Manadhil Urudhi Vendum ( KB, Suhasini , SPB ) - Some remarkably composed performances by SPB & I don't mean the singing! SPB & Suhasini pair off as a very authentic Doctor-Nurse combo, deftly handling professional lives while slowly succumbing to personal tragedies.
Lots of age-old KB trademarks are perfected in this flick.

5. Mudhal Mariyadhai ( Shivaji, Radha, BharathiRaaja ) - Timeless classic. Songs redefine the word "rustic". Nobody else but BharathiRaaja can excel at such an effort.

Oh well I'm on a roll here so I better state 5 more while I'm at it :-)

6. Gauravam ( Shivaji+Shivaji ) - Old-timers will definitely cherish some very powerful dialogues delivered as only Shivaji can, to another Shivaji!

7. Sadma ( in Hindi, The Tamil name's on tip of my tongue...u know, the "Kanney Kalaimanay" one ) ( Balu Mahendra, Kamal, Sridevi ) - If you overlook the pros ( Kamal & Sri ) at their pinnacle, the one thing that remains very vividly are awesome Ooty images captured only as Balu can.

8. AanPavam ( Pandiyan ) - a very nice comedial debut. i can still recall some jokes :-)

9. Thaneer Thaneer ( KB, Saritha ) - scathing criticism of Tamil Nadu PWD dept & the TN govt in general, directed by the former PWD employee ( KB ). Insider knowledge at its best, especially when KB reels out the motives & pay-scale ( 525-25-675-85-.... adhula yaarum kai vekka poradilla! ) of what PWD really stands for in drought-stricken Athipatti.

10. o my god I'm on my last one here...this one's tough...its a tussle between
Unnal Mudiyum Thambi
Sindhu Bhairavi
Ninaithalay Inikkum
Keladi Kanmani

If I have to pick just one it'd probably be hmm...Ninaithalay Inikkum - clean fun & good music by MSV, with Kamal, Rajini & Jayaprada trying to act matured and vulnerable at the same time.
I especially like the song "Nizhal kandavan naalum ingay nizhalai thodarnthu odugindran" ( i've got this only in movie, NOT in my audio tape for whatever reason :-( does anyone have this song anywhere on realaudio ??? )

I do love Unnal Mudiyum Thambi, especially the music, though the movie's so cliche-ridden & preaches to the choir whenever it gets a chance.

Sindhu Bhairavi seems, well, contrived! Again, the movie pales in front of its BGM.

And Vasanth experimented with a lot of western motifs in KK, making some of the songs very watchable, though the movie itself is a so-so.

Be4 anyone criticizes my opinionated selections, I'd like to warn them that I don't fit the "ideal Southie profile" at all ! I can't read/write Tamil, or any other South Indian language for that matter, though I'm very comfy with understanding Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam & Telugu. I watched my first movie in 1980 when i was 7, so pardon my ignorance of "golden oldies" like Thiruvilayadal ( which imo is a good contender for the 11th spot :-) ).
And yes I've seen Mouna Ragam roughly 150 times ( actually, more like 170 ).

Take care,
Krishnan

PS : I'm in the process of compiling the hottest tamil video collections so I can make them available on videos.maildelivery.com , for your viewing pleasure. Any input most welcome.

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Responses:

• From: Ravi (@ envy.cs.umass.edu) on: Sat Dec 26 14:52:05 EST 1998
  
  Krishnan: We are a site devoted to Tamil Film Music and not just tamil films. Please try the Hub for discussion on films.
  http://www-anw.cs.umass.edu/~ravi/df/
  
  
• From: neruppu (@ 129.137.33.123) on: Sat Dec 26 15:10:15 EST 1998
  
  krishnan, most of the films in your list will be accepted as masterpieces(atleast of the timeperiod they belong to)but i am not able to appreciate indira in the list.it was going nowhere towards what it setout to accomplish if you can understand what i mean.also i found the whole movie was haphazard, not holding my attention for any considerable span.also , i felt nayagan must get through in the list for many reasons though it was '"inspired" by godfather.in many ways, it was a truly memorable movie.'mudhal mariyadhai" is undoubtedly one of the best TAMIL film.you cant get more authentically regionalistic. I'm reminded of one of Satyajit ray's statements-"the more regional you go, the more universal you become".also i felt that 'devar magan' to be a strong contender for the list coz it had one of the best screenplays in tamilfilm history and the dialogues were too good and you never felt the preaching effect u had rightly pointed about U M T, and the acting by everyone in the movie was outstanding.also i found 'en uyir thozan'by bharathiraja as an excellent entry for a political movie genre considering how bad and disoriented the political movies in tamil are.
  
  

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